Away Day Diary: Yeovil Town 1-2 Maidenhead United (24/08/19)

Yours truly was Billy No Mates on the 09:04 from Maidenhead; my lucky pants (2/2 UPDATE: 3/3), a black and white striped sticker spotted on Platform 2 of Reading station, and Doves' Black And White Town playing randomly on my iPod, instilled confidence that the Magpies would maintain their unbeaten record against the Glovers

Even though I'd been told that Yeovil Junction station was remote, I certainly hadn't appreciated to what extent! The lack of a cash point - indeed the lack of any facilities, bar a car park - meant that it would be a 30-minute uphill trek, along a country road with no footpath, towards civilisation ...

Or what seemingly passes for civilisation in these parts! #moretattsthanteeth I bumped into the Macleods - taking time out from a stay in Wells - outside the Wetherspoons and, after two rounds in there (decent pints of Chesil and Rev. James) and one in the Beehive (scrumptious, homemade pork pies from Wells Market, washed down with rum-infused ale), we were parked up at the out-of-town ground - everything seems to be out-of-town in Yeovil; a truly bizarre place - with just enough time to spare

Very hot weather excused a scrappy game of football that was not dissimilar to the recent one at Torquay (albeit our performance levels were down, and the Glovers not nearly as impressive as the Gulls); Josh Kelly had opened the scoring at Plainmoor and only the crossbar prevented him from doing the same at Huish Park, but I felt that the win was never in serious doubt once we had - somewhat fortuitously - gone ahead ... despite Jake Cassidy missing a subsequent penalty, Yeovil having a goal disallowed for offside, and then some doofus pulling one back for them (immediately after the in-form Danny Whitehall - so good that he doesn't need a warm-up - doubled our advantage, late on, with a pinpoint strike from outside the area)

Inn of choice for celebratory post-match bevvies was the Arrow; I enjoyed a first pint of Blackthorn since my Bristol days #UTG

Love the social media meltdowns from fans of the BELTs that we turn over and, after saying goodbye to Les, there were plenty for me to savour on the train journey from Basingstoke (I was going to write 'Basingrad' there but, bearing in mind the number of high-rise flats that are planned for Maidenhead town centre, thought better of it): Exhibit A, B, C, D, E, etc., etc.

(BBC report; match highlights)

"Can we play you every week?" https://t.co/LVEhAqpKv3

— ɢᴏ ᴍᴀᴅ ᴏʀ sᴛᴏᴘ ᴄᴀʀɪɴɢ (@gomadstopcaring) August 24, 2019

Away Day (sort of) Diary: Torquay United 0-2 Maidenhead United (13/08/19)

Time - high time - for my season debut; W1 D1 L1 is exactly what I'd expected at this stage, although, as Craig had also noted, we won the game that I thought we'd draw, drew the game that I thought we'd lose, and lost the game that I thought we'd win! #themaidenheadway

Our Kid - moving to Oz at the end of the month - was supposed to be joining me and Macleod (M) for the long drive to Devon but pulled out; too late, sadly, for us to find a replacement

Resplendent views of Babbacombe Bay, from the Cary Arms; standstill traffic on the Kingskerswell bypass, had delayed our arrival by approximately 25 minutes and so we only had time for one round in this perennial favourite (#topten) before meeting - in the Union, close to the ground - with Steve J, Jim Parsons' stepson (and his son), and one of Macleod (M)'s old TVSFL refereeing colleagues (now living in Paignton)

Quarter of the way through our previous game at Plainmoor - another midweek, back in October 2017 - we were 3-0 down; a significant improvement this time ... not least the team's prompt arrival!

United - more specifically, the United wearing hideous checkerboard shirts - opened the scoring against the run of play (MASSIVELY) but, after that, produced a masterful team performance, with every man playing his part; as mentioned on Twitter, talk of a 'smash and grab' is as wide of the mark as the home side's final ball 

A-ha! (Typical social media reaction, in general, from fans of a BELT)

Y-fronts begone; I have a new pair of lucky pants! #penal (Two for two so far this season, as I also wore them whilst watching the Stockport County game on TV)

(BBC report; match highlights)

Two regrets from last night:

(1) @MurdoMacleod6 & I didn't take up stewards offer to stay behind the goal, after removing flags. The clincher came just secs after we'd returned to the stand 🙄

(2) Best Years of Our Lives didn't get an airing. 2-0 up away, so it should've #rusty https://t.co/bgjb8rukIH

— ɢᴏ ᴍᴀᴅ ᴏʀ sᴛᴏᴘ ᴄᴀʀɪɴɢ (@gomadstopcaring) August 14, 2019